GWR 7812 Erlestoke Manor
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7812 Erlestoke Manor in service
7812 Erlestoke Manor is one of three GWR Collett 7800 Manor class locomotives based at the SVR, the others being 7802 Bradley Manor and 7819 Hinton Manor.
The Manor Class 4-6-0 mixed traffic locomotive was designed as a lighter version of the GWR Grange Class, giving a wider Route Availability. The first 20, including all three at the SVR, were built between 1938 and 1939 and incorporated parts from old GWR 4300 Class Moguls. BR built a further 10 in 1950 and rated the class 5MT.
7812 was named after the Manor at Erlestoke, a village near Devizes in Wiltshire. It entered service in January 1939 in the Bristol/Bath area, working passenger and freight trains to places such as Salisbury, Weymouth, Weston Super Mare and Cardiff. Post-War, 7812 was based in the far South-West, often assisting with long distance expresses on the notorious ‘Devon banks’.
In late 1960, 7812 moved to the Oswestry/Shrewsbury/Cambrian area where 7802 Bradley Manor was already working. Both locomotives were withdrawn at Shrewsbury on 6th November 1965, and both moved to Woodham’s scrapyard at Barry in June 1966.
7812 Erlestoke Manor in preservation
Both 7812 and 7802 were acquired from Barry by The Erlestoke Manor Fund.
7812 was the first to enter service on the SVR in September 1979 and ran through to 1985. During this time it hauled a number of main line rail tours as well as services on the SVR.
After overhaul, Erlestoke returned to service in 2008.